


Naming Things is Difficult

by Yami_Kada7



Series: Link Down [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Day 1, Internet Surfing, Lots of time skips, VRAINS Week 2019, VRLink14, favorite headcanon, how Yusaku chose the name Playmaker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 19:30:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19818985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yami_Kada7/pseuds/Yami_Kada7
Summary: Hearing Kusanagi-san’s retelling of how they met, with all the heroics that he emphasized, made Yusaku remember how he chose the name Playmaker.That was one story he would never let Kusanagi-san find out about.





	Naming Things is Difficult

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretending that Yusaku was there for the nostalgia. Okay? Okay.
> 
> You might want to look at the Etymology section of Yusaku's Wikia page to get this, but it's still funny either way.

Takeru was looking back and forth between them, awe etched into his smile. “Wow Kusanagi-san! I never could have guessed that you and Yusaku met in such an incredible way! So that’s how Playmaker began!” He bit into his hotdog, leaning back in his chair until he bumped into the countertop. 

Kusanagi-san nudged him until he dropped back onto all of the chair legs. “Yeah, it was one of the most exciting things that I had ever done. Wouldn’t change a thing.” He faced the grill, turning a few hotdogs over to cook the other sides.

“So, who came up with the name Playmaker? Since you were Unknown before that.” Takeru asked Yusaku, who had been sitting in his chair attempting to turn himself invisible.

Luckily, Kusanagi-san picked up the question before Yusaku could say a word. “Oh, Yusaku came up with it! It’s ‘the one who makes plays,’ the main fighter of our team. He snapped the tongs in his hand together, pointing them at Yusaku. “And it fit perfectly!”

Yusaku edged away from the glow that seemed to surround the two of them, humming out an agreement and typing on the keyboard in front of him to look like he was busy. Takeru didn’t take the hint. 

“That seems a little strange though, I wouldn’t have guessed that you came up with the name for that reason, Yusaku. You don’t seem that into sports.” Takeru leaned onto the counter, craning his neck to look at Yusaku’s face more clearly.

Yusaku stared at the screen that he wasn’t doing much with, straining to control his expression. “I guess that you still have more to learn about me, then.” came out too clipped and fast, he caught a glimpse of Takeru raising an eyebrow before he sat back, out of his line of sight.

“Well then, if you’re offering, prepare for a lot of questions later, Yusaku.” A hand clapped down on his shoulder before Takeru moved away, starting up another train of conversation with Kusanagi-san. 

Yusaku let out a breath as quietly as he could and focused on the screen in front of him, hoping in the back of his mind that Takeru would forget his curiosity before too long. 

* * *

Of course, it would never be that easy.

Yusaku had headed out for the evening, and had almost escaped when he heard Takeru call out to him, and was forced to stop or look even more suspicious. The other came up beside him and they walked down the street, neither saying anything for a while. 

Takeru was the one to break the silence. “So, you were acting a little weird earlier. What was that about?” 

Yusaku spent a moment pretending that he hadn’t heard the other, but gave up with a sigh as Takeru kept looking at him with a knowing smile. “You have to promise not to say anything, alright? Not even to Flame.”  _ And especially not Kusanagi-san. _

Takeru’s eyebrows shot up, but he nodded, leaning in closer to hear what Yusaku would have to say. 

“Well, It was right after Kusanagi-san and I decided to team up, and since we were going on the offensive, he thought that I needed a new name for my avatar…”

* * *

“But why? Unknown works just fine.” Yusaku blinked up at his new ally, who was standing across the counter at the grill.

Kusanagi-san didn’t even look up from his work to answer. “Because, a name is a really important thing. It can command respect, inspire awe, or generate fear, but in order to do that it has to be a memorable name.Unknown isn’t very memorable, and how do you expect the Knights of Hanoi to take you seriously if they don’t really care about who you are?”

He had a point there, even Knights that he had dueled multiple times had trouble remembering his name because it was so generic. Yusaku nodded. “Alright, that makes sense. I’ll let you know if I come up with something.”

Kusanagi-san beamed down at him. “Great!” A hotdog was passed over the counter to Yusaku, and he took it, fumbling with the wrapper. “Take your time, and think about it carefully!”

Yusaku nodded once, then turned and left. Figuring out a name would be easy, he would give Kusanagi-san his answer when they met up tomorrow.

* * *

Five hours later, and Yusaku was reevaluating the difficulty of name-choosing. He had tried generic names that sounded intimidating, phrases that meant serious business, and anything halfway decent that he could come up with, but all the names were already taken. And he refused to have numbers or strange symbols in his username, that would get him laughed at by any respectable cyberterrorist.

He decided to take a break, and began surfing randomly through the internet. Maybe he just needed a break, and he would be able to come up with something after giving his brain a rest. 

He browsed through various websites, looking at random news articles, cooking blogs (his kitchen was horribly underused, and Kusanagi-san seemed determined to correct that), and the occasional informational video. He briefly entertained the thought of getting farther ahead in his schoolwork, but dismissed it as unimportant. 

Eventually, he found himself bored enough to go through each of google’s features and see if they were as bad as the internet made them out to be. He knew that companies paid to get themselves at the top of the basic Search function, so he skipped that and went on to Images, finding it to be mostly in line with the topics he searched with the occasional Thing he Did Not need to see mixed in, and hurried through the next couple features before landing on Translate. 

He spent a bit of time there, dredging up knowledge from his foreign language classes and comparing what he knew to the results. There were minor errors, but he could still understand the basics of what was being said. He was about to move on when he paused, glancing from the input box to the tab he still had open to change his account name and back. With a clatter of keys, he typed one word into the box, and hit Enter.

Well, it wasn’t like he had any other ideas.

* * *

Takeru was laughing. He was trying not to, if the hand over his mouth was any indication, but laughing all the same.

Yusaku could only glare as his face heated. “Shut up.” He hissed. “It’s not that funny.”

“It is though! I can’t believe that you just typed your name-”

“Shut  _ up. _ ”

“-into Google Translate and used it as your username!” He straightened up, still grinning like a madman. “So what, did you tell Kusanagi-san the name and he thought there was this deeper meaning to it, and you never corrected him?!” Takeru was being a little too loud for how late at night it was. 

Yusaku shoved at his shoulder a little. “Shut up.” It was meant to be a command, but it came out too quiet and his face was too hot to be taken as such. He cleared his throat, hoping to gain more composure. “Regardless, you can’t tell anyone, alright?”

Takeru blew out a groan. “Fine! But I get the right to laugh the hardest if Kusanagi-san ever finds out, deal?” 

Takeru would probably break and tell someone sooner or later anyway, so this was probably the best he was going to get out of him. “Deal.”

They kept walking, quiet except for the occasional renewal of giggles from Takeru, until they parted to get to their homes. All in all, it wasn’t the most embarrassing moment of Yusaku’s life, but it was pretty close.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you thought, comments, constructive criticism, it's all welcome!
> 
> I got this idea from the etymology section of Yusaku's Wikia page, when I was doing research for last year's vrainsweek. I have waited for this moment.
> 
> In the spirit of last year's works, this piece has not been beta'd.
> 
> For those interested, I'm over on Tumblr under @yami-kada


End file.
